For many people, the stretch between January and March can be summed up in two words: cold and gray. The first time I went on a cruise, it was February and I’d decided I needed to go somewhere warm, preferably as soon as yesterday.
If wintertime has you feeling cooped up and at loose ends, you might have a case of cabin fever. Thankfully, there’s a cure.
What Is Cabin Fever?
Cabin fever is a form of winter depression that often comes with being forced indoors for extended periods because of cold weather and elongated darkness. In addition to low mood, symptoms can include difficulty sleeping, restlessness, being less active, impatience, or feeling lonely.
Other situational factors or anxieties — work burnout, financial stress, anxiety about safety — can sometimes make cabin fever symptoms feel worse.
What Causes Cabin Fever?
Being inside for an extended time isn’t necessarily the cause of cabin fever. Rather, it’s the isolation that comes with being unable to leave your house and interact with other people.
Many of us experienced this during the COVID quarantines and social distancing in 2020. We may have felt antsy about not being able to go to our favorite restaurants or the movies, but it was the lack of human connection that left us feeling unsettled the most.
Winter isolation, brought on by cold and blustery weather plus less daylight, has many of the same psychological effects.
How to Cure Cabin Fever by Planning a Trip
There are many ways to get rid of cabin fever, often revolving around establishing healthy routines, finding ways to actually get out of the house, or at least distracting yourself so that you’re more at ease in your environment. Because we are who we are at Seven Corners, our favorite cabin fever cures focus on travel.
Planning a trip could help you feel normal again. You don’t even have to be able to take the vacation right away, like when I escaped to the Bahamas on a last-minute winter cruise. Just the anticipatory nature of planning a vacation is often enough to get those happy dopamine hormones flowing again.
A 2014 study from Cornell University showed that anticipating an experience (including travel, but other events too) increased people’s happiness more and had a more enduring effect than anticipating buying material goods. Part of the reason for this is that we talk to people about the experiences we have more than we talk about the things we buy.
In other words, planning a trip can become a social activity. I tell you where I want to go, you give me a recommendation for your favorite beach, I share a story about the last time I saw the ocean ... and now we’re connecting in a meaningful way.
As you plan a trip to beat cabin fever, think of who you can include in your planning. It could be a spouse, a friend, a coworker, or even someone at the grocery store who asks why you’re buying so much sunscreen in January.
More Ways to Cope with Cabin Fever
How can you extend the excitement of planning a trip? These five travel-friendly strategies are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting rid of cabin fever.
1. Learn a new skill.
“Short days and extended winter evenings can make going outside a tricky feat,” says Seven Corners travel writer Grace Lower. “Rather than spending another evening scrolling through social media, why not use your downtime to learn something new?”
Any new skill could get you unstuck from the winter doldrums. But why not learn something you could use on your next trip? Try practicing these skills travelers need:
- A foreign language
- How to read a map
- How to read train or subway schedules at your bucket list destination
- Basic first aid skills, especially if you like hiking, biking, or camping
- Budgeting skills to help you save for a trip or manage money during one
- Videography, photography, or journal writing to capture your most iconic moments
- Car repair skills so you’ll be prepared for a road trip
- Skiing or snowboarding safety
2. Take a mini vacation.
Whether you're short on time, funds, or the desire to travel in a snowstorm, taking a big winter vacation can seem less than fun, even if it would kick cabin fever to the curb. Instead, try taking a short trip, perhaps somewhere in your own hometown.
“Sometimes even a small change in scenery can make a world of difference,” says Grace. "You might rent yourself a fancy hotel room in the nearest big city, spend an afternoon exploring a local conservatory, or just visit with a few friends across town.”
3. Hit the slopes.
If being stuck indoors is contributing to your cabin fever, the antidote is getting out of doors. That’s where skiing and snowboarding come into play. And, as Grace points out, even fake snow counts.
“The rush of adrenaline, the burst of chilly air, the long mornings in the great outdoors — it’s no wonder why so many people take a ski trip to refresh after the holiday season. Even if you aren’t keen on playing in the snow, you can simply kick back and enjoy the view from the lodge with hot cocoa in hand.”
4. Take a cruise.
There are many types of cruises. A bout of cabin fever is the perfect time to find the best one for you.
Try a short sailing trip to a warm location or a longer itinerary through the Nordic region to see the Northern Lights. Book a family-friendly getaway or a “party ship” for adults only.
There’s no wrong or right answer. The point is to swap your everyday (boring) cabin for a cruise cabin with a new view.
5. Go on a wellness retreat.
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? “Get healthy” is one of the most common goals we make every January. Perhaps a wellness retreat will help you stick with and achieve that goal.
"Healthy” means lots of different things, so choose the wellness retreat that’s right for you. It could be a yoga or meditation school, a spa that prioritizes relaxation, or a resort focused on nutrition. Maybe it’s a seminar that connects you with other people with similar hobbies, which can do wonders for our social health.
And don’t worry if your resolutions have already lapsed. There’s no better time to give it another go than today.
Beat the Winter Blues with More Travel
This is just a short list of travel-themed ways to beat the winter blues. You can find even more on The Wayfinder blog or by getting our top travel stories sent straight to your inbox (it’s just once a month).
Contributors
Becky Hart loves travel and hates winter (it’s cold, it’s dark ... blech). She was the lead author of this blog. Grace Lower has a more optimistic outlook on the season. She was the driving force behind these helpful tips for beating cabin fever.
